Berry Bonanza

Every January, gads of lustrous red berries cover the bare branches of possumhaw trees
(Ilex decidua) that grow in Tom Spencer's garden in Austin. It's not long before the
skirmishes begin.

"We always have a pair of mockingbirds that rush around and defend their berries,"
laughs Spencer, host of KLRU's Central Texas Gardener. "They chase the titmice and
chickadees, too, which don't even eat fruit. Then they go nuts when the cedar waxwings
arrive."

Songbirds, as well as bobwhite quail, cattle, deer and small mammals, relish possumhaw
drupes, more so after they've been repeatedly frozen. Opossums - hence the name -
especially love the berries.

Also called deciduous holly, possumhaw - Texas' most wide-ranging native holly -
grows as shrubs and trees in East Texas pineywoods westward to the Edwards Plateau.

Unlike most evergreen hollies, such as yaupon and American holly, possumhaw drops its
leaves, revealing a spectacular shimmer of crimson in winter landscapes.

Only female possumhaws bear fruit, and most experts believe that males must be
available for that to happen. However, "no nurseries sell male possumhaws," Spencer
says. What's more, "I don't have any males in my garden, and my possumhaws put on
fruit just fine."